We have been acclimating ourselves to the Italian germs this week. Doesn't that sound so much better than we all have the sniffles? This week went so fast- it must be the lovely weather. Today it's 83 and it's been sunny forever. Day after day of sun- we can "waste" a day inside if we want, we have faith there will be more sunny days. Seems our time in Washington State has left a lasting impression on us!
Last weekend, we went on another quest for local fun. We went to an asparagus festival. Now when you think of an asparagus festival you likely think of many vendors, many food sources, entertainment, and perhaps....asparagus. I think we have been to enough festivals to conclude that many of them are quite different than said expectation.
Diving back into our not so distant past, we once went to a wine festival. Here are a few pictures from that trip.....
Yes, that is a tractor, and yes, those are doors. There was one counter where you could get a glass of wine and that's it.
There were no grape stomping contests to be found. There weren't any wine vendors. The village drunk wasn't there. There were hardly any people for that matter.
"My Man" tried to tie it all together- you need tractors to get fields ready to plant grapes, and doors to the wine cellar. It was a stretch at best.
You know, I never considered that perhaps we never made it to the wine festival and were indeed at the "Tractor and Door Festival." That would explain it.
Our recent asparagus festival consisted of a large building with open counters, a covered area with picnic tables, a tennis court and a parking lot across the street with two vendors. The vendors were selling, hmmm, shall we say "quaint" items- perhaps made by young children, or perhaps made by those with less fortunate crafting skills.
We received an e-mail with specific directions on how to proceed- without the directions, we would have starved.
Here's how it went. You arrive and make your way to the picnic tables and choose a table- noting the table number. You proceed to the large building with open counters and go to the far left where there is paper and pencils. You write down what you would like and go to the counter marked "cassa" to pay. Then, with receipt in hand, you head over to another table at the entrance of the covered area with picnic tables and give it to the man seated at the table. I am not sure about what role he had in the ordeal, but there was some nodding and re-iterating what table you had chosen. Then you sit and wait. A person comes along and brings your drinks followed shortly by another person delivering a tray of mystery food. No one is sure what they ordered, really, and the fun/guesswork/sharing begins! We had the frittata (we easily recognized that one) a fried cheese wheel with potato and onions, some sausages of some sort, and pasta with ragu sauce.
All in all the food was good- I am pretty sure there was some asparagus in the frittata, I wouldn't swear to it, but I am pretty sure. Oh, and I had wine in a dixie cup : ) Here we are with some new friends and their adorable son.
We got there at 5 and there was hardly anybody there. By the time we left at 8 it was starting to fill up. There were these pesky little bugs flying all over the place. We were the only ones waving our arms about madly- the natives didn't seem to notice the bugs. After dinner, "My Man" took the children over to the tennis court to let them run around. The band was warming up. There was a couple accordion players, drums, and a guitar. The tennis courts were covered with a white powder (flour?) to make the surface smoother for all the polka dancing. We missed the dancing- the kids were tired, and "My Man" was annoyed with all the bugs! We have something to look forward to next time- I am talking about the dancing here, and not the bugs.
Last weekend, we went on another quest for local fun. We went to an asparagus festival. Now when you think of an asparagus festival you likely think of many vendors, many food sources, entertainment, and perhaps....asparagus. I think we have been to enough festivals to conclude that many of them are quite different than said expectation.
Diving back into our not so distant past, we once went to a wine festival. Here are a few pictures from that trip.....
Yes, that is a tractor, and yes, those are doors. There was one counter where you could get a glass of wine and that's it.
There were no grape stomping contests to be found. There weren't any wine vendors. The village drunk wasn't there. There were hardly any people for that matter.
"My Man" tried to tie it all together- you need tractors to get fields ready to plant grapes, and doors to the wine cellar. It was a stretch at best.
You know, I never considered that perhaps we never made it to the wine festival and were indeed at the "Tractor and Door Festival." That would explain it.
Our recent asparagus festival consisted of a large building with open counters, a covered area with picnic tables, a tennis court and a parking lot across the street with two vendors. The vendors were selling, hmmm, shall we say "quaint" items- perhaps made by young children, or perhaps made by those with less fortunate crafting skills.
We received an e-mail with specific directions on how to proceed- without the directions, we would have starved.
Here's how it went. You arrive and make your way to the picnic tables and choose a table- noting the table number. You proceed to the large building with open counters and go to the far left where there is paper and pencils. You write down what you would like and go to the counter marked "cassa" to pay. Then, with receipt in hand, you head over to another table at the entrance of the covered area with picnic tables and give it to the man seated at the table. I am not sure about what role he had in the ordeal, but there was some nodding and re-iterating what table you had chosen. Then you sit and wait. A person comes along and brings your drinks followed shortly by another person delivering a tray of mystery food. No one is sure what they ordered, really, and the fun/guesswork/sharing begins! We had the frittata (we easily recognized that one) a fried cheese wheel with potato and onions, some sausages of some sort, and pasta with ragu sauce.
All in all the food was good- I am pretty sure there was some asparagus in the frittata, I wouldn't swear to it, but I am pretty sure. Oh, and I had wine in a dixie cup : ) Here we are with some new friends and their adorable son.
We got there at 5 and there was hardly anybody there. By the time we left at 8 it was starting to fill up. There were these pesky little bugs flying all over the place. We were the only ones waving our arms about madly- the natives didn't seem to notice the bugs. After dinner, "My Man" took the children over to the tennis court to let them run around. The band was warming up. There was a couple accordion players, drums, and a guitar. The tennis courts were covered with a white powder (flour?) to make the surface smoother for all the polka dancing. We missed the dancing- the kids were tired, and "My Man" was annoyed with all the bugs! We have something to look forward to next time- I am talking about the dancing here, and not the bugs.
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